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Friday, August 24, 2012

Changes are Starting

Thursday was another cardiologist appointment for Iain. His oxygen saturation was great again, 99.However, his Echo Cardiogram wasn't so great. Here is my limited understanding of what is occurring.Iain's Pulmonary Valve is growing narrower as muscle tissue builds up. It is causing a "tightening" of the Pulmonary Valve. This does two things.1. It restricts blood flow to the lungs, resulting in low oxygen running through Iain's body. We will most likely begin to see Iain's Oxygen Saturation begin to decline. 2. The tightening of the Pulmonary Valve also can cause the blood flowing between the left and right chambers to change. For example, the blood could flow more quickly from the left, into the right. This most likely would cause a "blue spell". From what I understand, we will know when a blue spell occurs. There is no questioning it as it's quite obvious. He gave us a few tips about how to respond and then we will be heading right to Hershey Med for surgery.The goal was to get Iain close to 6 months before having open heart surgery. Now, Dr. Consavage said he hopes to get Iain to 2 months of age before needing surgery. Iain is now 4 weeks old.He started Iain on Propranolol, which is a beta blocker. My understanding is that it will not reverse the muscle build up that has already occurred, but that it will help to slow further muscle build up or "tightening". He is starting on a very low dose, which will be changed as he continues to gain weight. He's currently gaining about 40 grams a day. At his appointment on Thursday, he weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. So, just about 2 lbs over birth weight!If the medication works really well, there is a chance that surgery could be pushed off till 4 months, but Dr. Consavage isn't real positive about that. So, the goal right now, is to get Iain to 2 months of age. And we will go from there.Please pray for us as we were not anticipating this to start so quickly. I certainly wasn't prepared for this news at this appointment. I was alone, so this information is coming from my understanding of what the Dr. said to me, without having Tim's ears to help filter and understand. Open heart surgery on such a little body is so hard to fathom and difficult to swallow. BUT, we are thankful for God's provision in great Cardiologists and Surgeons so close to home.Thank you for your continued prayers for Iain. Our prayer is for his safety & health above all else!